Header



June 20, 1933. M. LAPHAM ,91

HEADER Filed Sept. 5, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet l LAPHA Jine 1933,,

HEADER Filed Sept. 5; 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 J/vvEA/Ta MARSHALL LRPHAMFEE M. LAPHAM June 20, 1933.

HEADER Filed 'se t. 5, 1929 5 Sheets -Sheet 3 INVENTQ :4. LA PPM MTMARSHA June =3 1933.

M. LAPHAM HEADER Filed Sept. 5; 1929 5 Sheet s-Sheet 4 g 5 N} a M12 AM?J I H I a, m7 W E FF 5 4 6 n n n wim o s R Q 3 3 he INVENI'OFI MARS HALLLAPHA M 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 M LAPHAM HEADER Filed Sept. 5, 1929 June 20,-1933.

Patented June 20, 1933 STATES PTENT IKAESHAZL "LAEHAM, OF NEW YORK, N.Y, TO SEEBAL-EOLLED PRODUCTS COMPANY, IMO, OF NEW YORK, N.

Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK HEADER App1ication filed September Myinvention relates in general toheadi and more particularly to a duplexheader for bolts, rivets, spikes, and the like, in which one blank ibeing headed and e ected while a new work-piece is being fed into therivets,

machine and cut off.

The principal object of my invention has been to increase the output ofheaders, which results in a reduced cost of making bolts,

and the like.

Moreover, my device has been so designed that one part of the gripperdie is held frictionally, while the blank is being severed and nitiallygripped by the die.

Furthermore, my device provides for easy ac nstment of the variousparts.

Fi e 3 i 1g. 1 is a sectional View taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

F 8 and 9, and 10 and 11, respect1vely, are vi ews :imilar to Figs. 6and 7, showing various in the process of headmg.

l L the accompanying drawings and in the iption, I have shown anddescribed my invention as applied to the heading of round bolts, but itis obvious that the device is applicable to the heading of bolts ofvariouscross-sections, as well as rivets, railroad spikes, or the like.

My device comprises a housing having a bearing 16 at one end thereof,and a bearing 17 at the opposite end. The bearings are 5, 1921'). SerialNo. 890,590.

connected at the front of the machine by a wall 18 and at the rearthereof by a wall 19.

As is customary in headers, my mawhine is arranged in front of the usualfurnace (not shown), and the bar of stock .20, which is to be cut oil atsuitable lengths and headed, is fed into the front of the machinethrough a guide bushing 21 arranged in the front wall 18 of the housing.The inner face of this bushing is flush with the inner face 2 1 of thehousing, and it acts as a stationary shear for the st ck. This guidebushing is held in place in the usual manner by means of the clips 22.Arranged immediately in front of the guide bushing 21 is pair of rolls23. These rolls are for the purpose of feeding the bar through the guidebushing and into my d vice. Where preformed stock is to be headed, therolls 28 simply act as feed rolls, but where the crosssectional shape ofthe material is to be altered before passage into my device, as forinstance, changing an oval bar to a round, or putting a groove into around bar, the feed rolls are provided with forming faces, and alsoanswer the purpose of forming rolls. These feed rolls are, of course,operated intermittently, and, since they are well known and do not forma part of my invention, they are not further shown or described, and,0bviously, are operated in timed relation with the other parts of mydevice.

Slidably arranged in the bearings 16 and 1'? is the distributor 25 of mydevice. This distributor is reciprocated back and forth so as to bringthe blanks held by it in alternate registration with the reciprocatingheader dies 26 and 27. Each of these dies is substantially like the diesused on a single header, and each is operated from a shaft and suitablecrank means, not shown s described since these parts are well known anddo not form parts of my invention. It is obvious that the dies 26 and 27are alternately operated so as to head the stock carried to the properposition by means of the distributor.

The distributor may be operated either by a crank (not shown) or by acam 29 (see Fig. 1). The cam, I find, is preferable since it providesthe necessary dwell at the two extremes of the stroke of thedistributor. This cam is preferably of the type having a groove 30 withwhich a roller 31 engages. The roller is carried by a reciprocating arm32 which has one end connected to the end 33 of the distributor and itsother end slidably mounted in a suitable bearing 34. The cam is carriedby a shaft 35 suitably mounted in a bearing 36. Each end of thedistributor is provided with a downwardly extending arm 37 having aset-screw 38 passing thercthrough, for purposes to be hereinafterdescribed. Each set-screw has a locknut 39.

Carried by the distributor are two moving gripper dies 46 and 41, onearranged at each side of the center. The top and bottom faces of each ofthe gripper dies are preferably inclined outwardly, and the top face ofeach engages with a similarly inclined surface 42 formed on thedistributor. These dies are held in place by a yoke 43, which has aninclined surface at each end for engagement with the bottom surface ofthe dies {10 and 41. The yoke is held in place by means of a 3 bolt 51passing into the central portion 4 1:

of the distributor. The distributor is formed on each side of thecentral portion 44 with a vertical recess in each of which 7, isdisposed an adjusting key 46. Each key has a wedge-shaped portion i7which engages with the tapered rear face -18 of the moving gripper diewith which it co-acts. A lug 49 is carried by each of the adjustingwedges through which an adjusting screw 50 passes, by which the wedgemay be raised or lowered to adjust the lateral position of the movinggripper die. The working face of each of the gripper dies is grooved tocon- .form with substantially one-half of the cross-sectional shape ofthe stock being headed.

Carried. by the bearing 16 is a floating gripper arm 55, and carried bythe bearing 17 is a floating gripper arm 56. These gripper arms arearranged below the distributor and are provided for longitudinalmovement in substantially the same vertical plan as the distributor.Each of the floating gripper arms is provided with a gripper head 57 bywhich a floating gripper die 58 is secured to the arm and a floatinggripper die 59 to the arm 56. The top and bottom faces of these dies areinclined, and the top inclined face thereof engages a. correspondinglyinclined face of the gripper head 57. he bottom inclined face of each ofthese dies 58 and 59 is engaged by a clip 60, carried by the head 57 andsecured in place by means of bolts 61. The working face of each of thefloating gripper dies 58 and 59 is formed with a groove or recess ofsubstantially one-half of the cross-sectional shape of the stock beinghandled, and these grooves or recesses correspond to the grooves andrecesses of the moving gripper dies 40 and 11, with which recesses theyregister. The bearings for the floating gripper arms 55 and 56 areprovided with suitable friction material arranged under the bearing cap66, whereby the arms will remain in the position to which they aremoved, and can only be moved against the resistance offered by suchfrictional lining. Each of the bearing caps 66 for the bearings of thefloating gripper arms 55 and 56 is disposed in a recess 67 formed ineach of the bearings 16 and 17. The outer end of each of the floatinggripper arms and 56 is engaged by one of the gripper arm ad justingscrews 38 carried by each of the arms 37 of the distributor. Therelative lengths of the arms 55 and 56 and the space between theoperative ends of the adjusting screws 38 is such that the distributorwill have considerable movement in either return direction before thefloating gripper arms are operated, as more fully described hereinafterin connection with the operation of the device.

Carried by the face of the distributor which engages with the face 24 ofthe housing are two movable shear blocks 70 and 71. The shear block 70is arranged on the left hand side of the central portion 44: of thedistributor, viewed in Fig. 7, and the block 71 is arranged at the righthand side of the central portion. These movable shear blocks co-operatewith the stationary shear block formed by the guide bushing 21 as thedistributor is moved back and forth in the housing.

The distributor is designed to move to the right and to the left andcarry with it the floating gripper arm which is carrying the blankwork-piece until the head 57 of such gripper arm is forced in contactwith and comes to rest against either end wall of the housing, whichwall is formed by either of the bearings 16 or 17.

An ejector 7 5 is provided in the front wall 18 of the housing for theblank which is headed up by the header die 26 and an ejector 7 6 islikewise provided in the front wall of the housing for the stock whichis headed up by the header die 27. These ejectors are of the usual type,well known to those skilled in the art, and are operated by any suitablemeans in timed relation with the operation of the other parts of thedevice, to be hereinafter described. A stop 77 is provided for thedevice, and this stop is carried by a suitable arm 78 of the usual andwell known form. Since the mechanism for operating the ejector-s doesnot form a part of my invention, it is not shown or more fullydescribed.

lVhen my device is to be put into operar. Us

tion, the heated stock 20 is fed into my machine through the guidebushing 21 by means of the feed rolls 2?) and against the stop 77 whichhas been previously adjusted so as to allow suflicient material for theformation of the head on the bolt, rivet, or other object being head-ed.If the feed rolls 28 are also forming rolls, the bar is formed bypassage between them before it is passed into the machine. In Figs. 6and 7, a finished bolt 80 is shown with its head 81 completely formedand ready to be ejected from the machine. The feeding of the stock 20through the guide bushing 21 and between the open gripper dies 4-1 and59 occurs just before the distributor is moved to the right in thesefigures, or at a time immediately before the head 81 of the bolt 80 hasbeen completed. lVhen the stock has now been fed into the machine, andthe previously formed head finished, the distributor is caused to movedto the right by the cam 29. The result of the first part of thismovement will be twofold. Since the header die 26 has been drawn awayfrom the work-piece, it will release the bolt 80 and allow it to fallout from between the gripper dies 40 and 58, as clearly shown in Figs. 8and 9. The other result of this movement will be that a new piece ofstock 82 will be severed from the bar 20 by means of the movable shearblock 1 1. During this initial movement, the ejector 75 will operate toeject the bolt. As this portion of stock is being severed, it will beheld between the gripper dies l1 and 59 and fed along between these diesuntil the head 57 of the floating gripper arm 56 reaches the end wallsurface formed by the bearing 17. Ohviously, the friction material 65serves to offer sufficient resistance to the movement of the floatinggripper arm, whereby the piece of stock will be securely held betweenthe grippers until it reaches the position where it is operated upon bythe header 2?. The gripper adjusting screw 38 carried by the arm 37 atthe left of the distributor, as shown in Fig. 6, is adjusted so thatthere is a space 88 between it and the end of the floating gripper arm55 when the gripper dies d and 58 are holding a piece of stock, as shownin Figs. and 7. This space permits the distributor, carrying the movinggripper die 40, to move sufficiently so as to release the finisaed bolt80, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, before the screw 38 engages with the endof the floating gripper arm 55. After such engagement, however, thisfloating gripper arm will be carried along with the distributor with thegripper dies ll) and 58 maintained in spaced relation, or in their openposition, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, until these dies are moved to aposition where the space between them'is opposite the guide bushing 21,at which time another piece of stock 84 is fed into the device andagainst the stop 77, as clearly shown in Fig. 11.

Figs. 8 and 9 also show the piece of stock 82 severed or sheared fromthe bar and held between the gripper dies 4-1 and 59. Figs. 10 and 11show this piece of material in the position which it occupies when beingheaded and shows a head 85 having been formed thereon by the header die27. When the distributor is now moved in the opposite direction, thescrew 38 carried by the arm 37 at the right hand side of the distributorwill pass through the space 88 and permit the moving gripper die 41 tomove away from the floating gripper die 39 before the floating gripperarm 56 is actuated. As hereinbefore described, during such interval, thefinished bolt formed from the piece of stock 82 is ejected by theejector 76 and allowed to fall out from between the open dies 41 and 59.The left hand movement of the distributor shears off the piece of stock84 by means of the movable shearing block 70, whereupon it is gripped bythe gripper dies and 58 and moved to the position of the bolt shown inFigs. 6 and 7.

For clearness of illustration in Figs. 6, 8 and 10 of the drawings, 1have shown the central part. a l of the distributor as beingcross-hatched in a different direction than the cross-hatching of theother sectioned portions of the distributor, it being obvious that thiscentral portion is an integral. part of the distributor.

Vi hile I have shown the use of friction material for holding eachfloating gripper arm in place until the. distributor has moved thepredetermined distance on its return stroke, it may be advisable ornecessary to positively hold it in place. This may be ac complished bymeans of a latch (not shown) carried by the housing and released at theproper time by the travel of the distributor.

These and other modifications of the details herein shown and describedmay be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or thescope of the appended claims, and I do not, therefore, wish to belimited to the exact embodiment herein shown and described, the formshown being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: I

1. A header comprising two header dies, a housing, a distributor mountedfor recipro cation in the housing, two moving gripper dies carried bythe distributor, means for operating the distributor, two floatinggripper arms also mounted for reciprocation in the housing, a floatinggripper die carried by each of such gripper arms for co-operativeengagement with the moving gripper dies, the distributor being formedwith a downwardly extending arm at each end for engagement with theadjacent floating gripper arm, the parts being so proportioned thatspace is provided alternately at each end of the stroke between themovable gripper dies and the floating gripper dies, whereby thedistributor will be permitted to move a definite distance before thefloating gripper arms are operated.

2. A header comprising two header dies, a housing, a distributor mountedfor reciprocation in the housing, two moving gripper dies carried by thedistributor, means for operating the distributor, two floating gripperarms also mounted for reciprocation in the housing, a floating gripperdie carried by each of such gripper arms for co-operative engagementwith the moving gripper dies, the distributor being formed with adownwardly extending arm at each end for engagement with the adjacentfloating gripper arm, the parts being so proportioned that space isprovided alternately at each end of the stroke between the movablegripper dies and the floating gripper dies, an adjusting means carriedby the distributor arms, whereby the space between the adjusting meansand the floating gripper arm may be varied.

3. A header comprising two header dies, a housing, a distributor mountedfor reciprocation in the housing, two moving gripper dies carried by thedistributor, means for operating the distributor, two floating gripperarms also mounted for reciprocation in the housing, a floating gripperdie carried by each of such gripper arms for co-operative engagementwith the moving gripper dies, the distributor being formed with adownwardly extending arm at each end for engagement with the adjacentfloating gripper arm, the parts being so proportioned that space isprovided alternately at each end of the stroke between the movablegripper dies and the floating gripper dies, whereby the distributor willbe permitted to move a definite distance before the floating gripperarms are operated, and shearing means associated with the distributorand housing.

4. A header comprising two header dies, a reciprocating distributorformed with a central portion, a moving gripper die carried at each sideof the central portion of the distributor, a floating gripper arm ateach side of the distributor, and a floating gripper die carried by eachgripper arm and each floating die being in co-operative engagement withone of the moving gripper dies carried by the distributor, each pair ofgripper dies alternately gripping and holding a workpiece in headingposition while the other pair of dies is alternately receiving blankstock.

5. A header comprising two header dies, a reciprocating distributor,means carried by the distributor for shearing work-pieces, and two pairsof gripper dies actuated by the distributor, each pair comprising apositively actuated moving element and a floating element, each pair ofgripper dies alternately gripping and holding a workpiece in headingposition while the other pair of dies is alternately receiving blankstock.

6. A header comprising two header dies, a reciprocating distributor,means carried by the distributor for shearing workpieces, a floatinggripper arm for each side of the distributor, and a pair of gripper diescarried at each side of the distributor, one element of each pair beingcarried by the dis tributor and the other element of each pair beingcarried by one of the floating gripper arms, each pair of gripper diesalternately gripping and holding a work-piece in heading position whilethe other pair of dies is alternately receiving blank stock.

7. A header comprising two header dies, a reciprocating distributor,means carried by the distributor for shearing work-pieces, a floatinggripper arm for each side of the distributor, a pair of gripper diescarried at each side of the distributor, one element of each pair beingcarried by the distributor and the other element of each pair beingcarried by one of the floating gripper arms, each pair of gripper diesalternately gripping and holding a work-piece in heading position whilethe other pair of dies is alternately receiving blank stock, and meanscarried by the distributor for causing the operation of the floatinggripper arms.

8. A header comprising a housing, two alternately reciprocating headerdies, and a reciprocating distributor, each carried by the housing,movable shearing blocks carried by the distributor, a stationaryshearing block carried by the housing, and two pairs of gripping diesactuated by the distributor, comprising a positively actuated movingelement and a floating element, each pair of gripper dies alternatelygripping and holding a work-piece in heading position while the otherpair of dies is alternately receiving blank stock.

9. A header comprising a housing, two header dies, and a reciprocatingdistributor each carried by the housing, two movable shearing blockscarried by the distributor, a stationary shearing block carried by thehousing, such shearing block comprising a bushing having an opening forthe passage of the bar of stock, and two pairs of gripping dies actuatedby the distributor, comprising a positively actuated moving element anda floating element, each pair of gripper dies alternately gripping andholding a work-piece in heading position while the other pair of dies isalternately receiving blank stock.

10. A header comprising two header dies, a reciprocating distributor,means carried by the distributor for shearing work-pieces, two

pairs of gripper dies actuated by the distributor, each pair comprisinga positively actuated moving element and a floating element, each pairof gripper dies alternately gripping and holding a workpiece in head ingposition While the other pair of dies is alternately receiving blankstock, and frictional means for retarding the movement of the floatingelement.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

MARSHALL LAPHAM.

